Our friends over at RedEnvelope.com graciously offered to send us a Maverick Laser Infrared Surface Thermometer to test out and provide our thoughts. Of course we wouldn’t want to dangle a brand new BBQ gadget in front of our readers without giving you a chance to win one, so RedEnvelope also kicked in an extra thermometer for one lucky reader to win! Keep reading and we’ll let you know how you can get your hands on one of these guys.

Out of the box the thermometer has a good feel to it. It’s got some weight, but I have to admit that the plastic casing makes me weary of it surviving a drop. A Wii style wrist band would have been a good addition for those with slippery finger syndrome. Overall, the thermometer performs well and provides fast and accurate readings. Keep in mind that this little guy take surface temperature readings as opposed to air temperature readings. Because of this, I would most recommend this tool for somebody that does more grilling than smoking. It works great on a pizza stone, and is definitely the way to go if you’re looking to fine tune your temperature control for burgers and steaks. This little guy helped me located the hot spots on my Weber Kettle within seconds of opening the lid. At the time of writing this article, I’ve only had the thermometer for a couple of weeks. So at this point I can’t speak to it’s durability over repeated us, but after multiple cooking sessions it’s still working exactly the same as it was when I took it out of the package. All in all, this is nice piece of equipment that I feel comfortable recommending to a griller that’s looking to establish better control over their surface temperatures.

So, does this sound like a piece of equipment that you need to have? If so, just leave us a comment below letting us know your thoughts on the laser thermometer. We’ll randomly select one lucky person to receive a freebie from RedEnvelope.com, and it will be delivered straight to your door step!

The two biggest things you need to know when barbecuing (as opposed to grilling) are the temperature inside the closed grill, which you don’t want to open to check since you lose about 50 degrees with even a quick peek, and the temperature inside the meat so you can know when it’s done. It doesn’t sound like this thermometer does either of that.

Do you use it just to check how how the grill is at the surface where you, say, grill burgers?

I like the pizza stone idea and as well this would be perfect for a grill top griddle. I use both over wood fire on occasion and have run into hot spot issues. This would be the next best tool to add to the collection.

Because the older woman across from me at work here decides to point her infrared thermometer to see the temperature of my cubicle, I would like one to point back at her and at my grill of course. This would be awesome for when I’m trying to separate temperatures on my grill.

I’ve wanted one of these ever since Alton Brown played with one on his Good Eats show a few years back. I could have used one last weekend when the dome temp of my Egg was 400f but because of opening and closing the lid for 2 minute grill times, I wasn’t sure of the surface temp at the grate but it was obviously way hotter.

I have such a terrible time figuring out temperatures and cooking at the correct temps…My wife always says why cant you get a med rare piece of meat instead of med well….This may be the savior cooking utencil in my life and save a marriage….HOORAY

Sounds like a neat gadget, I’d love to give it a try! Though I don’t know that it’s a necessary item to have – most grills come with a temperature gauge you can read without opening the grill, and as far as the temperature of the meat I am more concerned with the INSIDE temperature than the surface temperature.

Yep, I can certainly see a few uses for this! My gas grill is a little uneven, and being able to identify hot/cold spots without guessing would be great. I can also think of a few non-cooking uses as well.

I have always been interested in one of these in past. I have seen Alton Brown use one for years. I think this would be great for a Pizza stone or even cooking Burgers APL (Adam Perry Lang) Style on a griddle on top of your grill.

Wow where can we get one? I compete in the NEBS grilling comp and have made a home made pizza oven out of a 30 gal drum. I know it gets up around 800 degrees but I don’t have my own infrared.It would be great for the grilling and oven!

I am constantly grabbing things that are too hot with my bare hands, like full chimneys, tools I left hlf on the grill, etc. If I had one of those my urge to play with a new gadget may save my hands from future burns